I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #age gap(47)

Yorokobi wa Ude no Naka is the sequel to Yorokobi wa Hiza no Ue [http://www.mangago.com/read-manga/yorokobi_wa_hiza_no_ue/] and develops the story of Orito Aoi, whose inappropriate love for his younger brother, Kouki, led him to leave his home and move in with Sagara, an older man who loves him. Their relationship is constricted by Aoi's past, however, and by the imbalance of power as Aoi uses Sagara. Sagara sets up some boundaries which force Aoi to change, just as Aoi receives a few hard knocks from Kouki and his mother and comes to new self-realizations. Better than its predecessor, this story is a very satisfying and rich exploration of character.

Burnt in the past, Kazaoka has made it a rule never to spend more than a single night with his lovers. Masato shares a key moment in his life with Kazaoka, one which has left him languishing with a secret crush. Years afterward, he sees Kazaoka's picture on the back leaf of a book published under the pen name of a popular, prize-winning and very successful author, so he tracks Kazaoka down. When Kazaoka doesn't recognize him, Masato deceives him in order to release his pent-up emotions. What happens when Kazaoka discovers he has been tricked and the other secrets Masato is hiding from him? Classic Minase Masara, with the most hilarious letter from a mangaka published on the back pages that I've ever read.

Shoutarou, an emotionally frail middle-aged writer who was abandoned by his wife, now lives with his editor, Masami, who was engaged to be married to Shoutarou's daughter. His daughter ran away on the night before the wedding, and now, Shoutarou feels he must help Masami cope with the feelings of abandonment, all of which have been re-activated in his own emotional experience. A surprising twist challenges his assumptions that he is unloveable. This is one of the best romance yaois I've read, with very sympathetic characters and realistic motivations. Read this one!

Full of incesty goodness!

Shougo, shiftless and lighthearted, shows up on the doorstep of his stepbrother, Kyoura, whom he has not seen since their parents' bitter divorce years before, after losing his job. This reignites Kyoura's thwarted passions and leads to the revelation of old secrets that tore apart their family. Serious subject matter, but treated lightly and sweetly, with many comic moments and lots of hot sex.

Harasen, the lonely music teacher, whose crush on student, Sajou Rihito, in mangaka Nakamura's Doukyuusei series went nowhere (in no small part as a result of his own scruples; Harasen doesn't touch students), attracts the attention of another student, Sorano. Sorano is fascinated, but blocked by the same scruples, and tries in his clumsy and inexperienced way to make things right between Harasen and Sajou, and, when that does not work, to console and heal him as far as Harasen will let him. The question is how far is that, and are Harasen's scruples real, or a mask for cowardice?

Unresolved Sexual Tension is stretched to the utmost when Reiji, a sales and marketing product tester crosses paths with his first lover from when he was in school, Kagami, now a successful architect, who dumped him with no explanation or consideration. Reiji still loves Kagami and it seems as though his feelings are returned, so why does Kagami persist in pushing him away? The drawings are beautiful. The story is smoldering. This is a great romance for ramping up a steamy mood! Volume 2 is about the company president and his lead model.

This isn't a one-shot. It's part of a larger work.

You have to hand it to Ao, once he decided he was in love with his old friend and neighbourhood Buddhist priest, Ryoumei, nothing but nothing will get in his way. It's Ryoumei who needs to be coaxed into releasing the iron-clad armoring over his heart, and he won't hear of it as long as Ao is not a legal adult. Plus, the biggest obstacle of all is that he isn't gay. Also, there are unresolved family issues. This story takes its time developing the lives and circumstances of these characters and letting them ease into love. The sequel, Himegoto Asobi, is even more interesting to me (because both characters are adults with difficult pasts to overcome.)